Arithmetic and

Geometric Sequence
WORD PROBLEMS
 Example 1
Every day a radio station asks a question
for a prize of $150. If the 5th caller
does not answer correctly, the prize
money increased by $150 each day
until someone correctly answers their
question.
What will be the prize if the
contest starts on Monday
and no one answers
correctly until friday.
Example 2

What if your pay check

started at $100 a week and
doubled every week. What
would your salary be after two
months?
Example 3
An auditorium has 20 rows of seats. There are 20 seats in the first
row, 23 seats in the second row, 26 seats in the third row, and so on.
How many seats are there in 20th row?

d 1 c  20  1  19
Example 4
. A small business sells $10,000 worth of sports materials during its first
year. The owner of the business has set a goal of increasing annual sales
by $7500 each year for 20 years. Assuming that the goal is met, find the
sales during the 20th year this business is in operation.
Example 4
. A small business sells $10,000 worth of sports materials during its first
year. The owner of the business has set a goal of increasing annual sales
by $7500 each year for 20 years. Assuming that the goal is met, find the
sales during the 20th years this business is in operation.
Example 5

Shown in the table is the

growth of red blood cells
per minutes. Assuming
this trend continues what
will be the number of cells
Minutes No. of cells
in 121 minutes 250
?
2 500
3 1000
Example 6

Upon injecting a patient

with an anti-virus
Vaccine the number of
bacteria decreases per
minute. If the trend in the
table continues,
Minutes No. of what
bacteria in
number oftheminutes
cells before
1 9,000
the bacteria
2 3,000will be totally
3 1,000
gone?
Example 5

As shown in the table, the monthly

rent of an apartment depends on the
number of bedrooms. If the pattern is
extended, What is the likely
cost of a 8 bedroom
apartment?

Bedrooms Cost
1 $ 550
2 $ 625
3 $ 700
Find the next three terms of 2, 3, 9/2, ___, ___, ___
3 – 2 vs. 9/2 – 3… not arithmetic
3 9/2 3
  1.5  geometric  r 
2 3 2

9 9 3 9 3 3 9 3 3 3
2, 3, ,  ,   ,   
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

9 27 81 243
2, 3, , , ,
2 4 8 16
 1 2
If a1  , r  , find a9 .
2 3
a1  First term 1/2
an  nth term x
n  number of terms 9
Sn  sum of n terms NA
r  common ratio 2/3

an  a1r n1
91
 1  2 
x    
 2  3 
28 27 128
x 8  
23 3 8
6561
Find a9 of 2, 2, 2 2,...

a1  First term 2
an  nth term x
n  number of terms 9
Sn  sum of n terms NA
r  common ratio 2 2 2
r   2
2 2
an  a1r n1

 2
9 1
x 2

2  2
8
x

x  16 2